12 April, 2019
The Hopkinton Marathon Committee (HMC) has selected starters for Waves Two through Four for the 123rd Boston Marathon. The Boston Athletic Association has granted the HMC this honor since 2006. This year, on the Hopkinton Marathon Committee’s 40th Anniversary, the HMC has chosen a beloved Hopkinton native, a high-ranking military official, and a former HMC chairperson. Rosalie Baker-Brown will start Wave Two, General James McConville will start Wave Three, and Bob Champney will start Wave Four.
“We’re happy to be able to honor some people who have been important parts of the history of our town, the Boston Marathon, and the Hopkinton Marathon Committee,” said Dorothy Ferriter-Wallace, chairperson of the HMC. “Hopkinton native Rosalie Baker-Brown and former Marathon Committee chair Bob Champney are wonderful people who have been a part of Hopkinton’s Boston Marathon history and we’re honored to have them as starters. With the Boston Marathon on Patriots’ Day, we’ve made it a priority to recognize veterans and members of our military. We were thrilled that General McConville will return as one of our starters.”
* Rosalie Baker-Brown, born and raised in Hopkinton’s Woodville section, was one of 10 children in her family. She had five children of her own and later married Tom Brown, the Hopkinton Postmaster and son of George V. Brown, commemorated permanently on the Hopkinton Common as The Starter statue. An accomplished athlete herself, Baker-Brown was one of the inaugural Hopkinton High Athletic Hall of Fame inductees, who played every sport available to girls at the time—basketball, softball, and cheerleading. She later became a nationally certified basketball official, and officiated for 30 years. 90 this year, Baker-Brown thinks she likely would have run the Boston Marathon herself if women were allowed in her younger years.
*Bob Champney, a retired principal who has lived in Hopkinton for 43 years, will start Wave Four. He volunteered on the Hopkinton Marathon Fund Committee, and became a member of the Hopkinton Marathon Committee, then chaired the HMC during the 101st and 102nd Boston Marathons. “In those days, the committee did all the set up,” he said. “We’d be setting up all the barriers early Sunday morning.” On the day of the marathon, he would be checking in at all the different staging locations around town, making sure all was taken care of for wheelchair athletes, elite runners, volunteers, and more. “I hustled around. I didn’t have a cart or anything. I just walked,” he said. “It was like I ran a marathon.” After his retirement, Champney worked details for the Hopkinton Police Department and always worked on Patriots’ Day.
*General James McConville, the 36th Vice Chief of Staff of the Army, will start Wave Three. The West Point graduate and highly-decorated General ran the 2017 Boston Marathon with his son and General Dunford, Joint Chief of Staff. He is the Senior Army Aviator qualified in the AH-64D Longbow Apache, the OH-58 Kiowa Warrior, the AH-6, AH-1 Cobra and other aircraft. While his duties have taken him around the world, Massachusetts and Boston hold special meaning. “Born and raised in Quincy, Mass., it’s an honor to support the Boston Marathon,” said General McConville. “It’s an even bigger honor to be the official starter of Wave Three. Boston is not just a place with a rich history, it’s also an attitude - a WINNING attitude. The men and women running on April 15th are all winners.”
Start times of waves of the 123rd Boston Marathon include:
Men’s Push-Rim Wheelchair 9:02a.m.
Women’s Push-Rim Wheelchair 9:04a.m.
Handcycles & Duos 9:25a.m.
Elite Women Runners 9:32a.m.
Elite Men Runners 10:00a.m.
Wave One 10:02a.m.
Wave Two 10:25a.m.
Wave Three 10:50a.m.
Wave Four 11:15a.m.
The Hopkinton Marathon Committee was established in 1979 to work in conjunction with the Boston Athletic Association (B.A.A.), the organizers of the Boston Marathon, to ensure that the annual running of the race is an exciting, successful and safe event for all concerned. Committee members contribute their efforts throughout the entire year to the planning, organization, and coordination of multiple facets of the race, working to protect the best interests and welfare of the town, its residents, businesses and visitors.
